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One of my favorite parts of my day is my drive to work . It’s only about 15 minutes from my house to school, but I try to make good use of the time I have. Until recently, I listened to my iPod and just relaxed. However, I recently began listening to my first audiobook. As a highly visual learner, I shied away from listening to books because I assumed I would just tune out. Plus, I love to sing along with my radio (at the top of my lungs), so losing that time made me a little sad.

A few days ago I had to drive to a wedding that was over an hour away. I downloaded an audiobook onto my iPod and figured I would give it a shot. As I drove up the parkway and into the mountains, that hour flew by! I was enjoying the story and realized that listening to a reader would also help me with my read-alouds. It’s interesting hearing another person’s interpretation of character’s voices, mannerisms, and speech.

Every morning when I get into my car, I place my iPod into it’s stand and set up the FM transmitter. Even though I only have 15 minutes (at the most), listening to someone tell me story has now become my favorite part of my morning routine. Even when I pull into my parking spot at school I sometimes spend a few more minutes in the car, finishing a chapter. For someone who has regretted the loss of her pleasure reading time, audiobooks are filling a great void in my life.

I have also tired listening to books on tape and it didn’t work for me. I am all about singing along on the top of my lungs, but you do make a strong case for trying a book, although with my new plunge into reading with a Kindle, reading has taken on a new dimension for me.
Bonnie

We’ve used audio books for our children, and on long rides, we often listen to kids’ stories. My wife and I often wish we could just pop in some adult fiction and put some cotton in the boys’ ears.
Instead, we search our libraries for stories we may all enjoy (not always easy with five people)
Kevin